We all know the UAE has some of the most extreme restrictions on free speech and human rights the world over. Their use of Sharia law to impose ridiculous punishments for the smallest of crimes has not gone unnoticed though, but it has gone largely unaffected, thanks to their wealth of oil, which sadly makes most world powers turn a blind eye to their violations. Underneath the glitzy sheen of Dubai lies a filthy world of pain and unimaginable suffering.
Here are some of the worst horror stories from Dubai.
1. Child Jockeys in camel races
Before 2000, rich Sheikhs would use child jockeys in their camel races as that way the camel ran faster. If that wasn’t bad enough, these kids were usually bought from traffickers who had kidnapped the children or forced the parents to give them up. Though outlawed, this practise still continues and the children live in disgusting conditions.
Watch a report about this disgusting practise below.
It is shameful but it is real (UAE Shaikhs)
Posted by Zubair Farooq on Tuesday, March 18, 2014
2. Inhumane existence of foreign labourers
The dizzylingly fast growth of Dubai was only possible because of insanely cheap labour, which they get by tricking foreign labourers into working for ridiculous hours and taking away their passports. They put them up in the worst possible lodgings and force them to construct atop buildings in the explosive heat.
3. Russian woman put on trial for drinking juice in public during Ramadan
A 28-year-old Russian female, who visited Dubai on a tourist visa, and a 30-year-old male citizen of Lebanon were put on trial for drinking juice in public during Ramadan and forced to pay a pretty hefty fine after a court ruling. They took them to court for drinking juice. That’s messed up.
4. 16 year old boy raped and case covered up
Alexandre Robert was raped and his friend brutalised in Dubai. When reported, the authorities tried to cover up the rape on the basis that the boy was homosexual. It finally hit international news and the family left Dubai, with his mother claiming she can never look at Dubai the same way again.
5. Couple jailed for a year and deported for public kissing
A couple found on a beach who were apparently in the lifeguard house in a compromising position were sentenced to a year of jail followed by deportation.
6. Women tricked into sex trade on pretext of getting jobs
Women from Asia and Africa often sign contracts to work as maids, waitresses, hairdressers and secretaries in Dubai, only to have employers confiscate their passports and force them to work as prostitutes. The hardships and torture they endure is unimaginable.
7. Tourists jailed and tortured for smoking weed
Three friends on holiday in Dubai were found with some synthetic cannabis in their car. They were immediately taken to prison and over a course of time, tortured mercilessly. One of them was even given electric shocks to his testicles.
8. British man sentenced to death for selling weed
While it is not unusual for the emirates’ rulers to pardon convicted criminals or lighten their sentences, the mere fact that a man can be killed for selling weed is just appalling.
9. Man arrested after finding poppy seeds from a breadroll on his clothes
We knew Dubai was almost unbelievably strict about drug laws, but a man being detained for having poppy seeds on his clothes from a bread roll he ate at the same airport kind of clinched the whole deal.
10. Woman wrongly sent to jail for 3 months on trumped up charges
According to reports, Rebecca Blake and her friend were a little drunk, so their taxi driver tried to fleece them. When they made a scene, he lied and told the cops they were having sex in the cab, after which she had to spend 3 months in prison and then be deported. According to her, it was a living nightmare.
Still want to go on that desert safari?
